• Ashland Inc. recently reported first-quarter 2026 results, with sales of US$386 million versus US$405 million a year earlier and a net loss of US$12 million compared with US$165 million, while also completing a US$480.07 million share repurchase program begun in June 2023.
• In parallel, Univar Solutions B.V. announced an exclusive EMEA food and beverage distribution partnership for Ashland’s cellulose ethers, and Ashland issued full-year 2026 sales guidance of US$1.84 billion to US$1.91 billion, underscoring its focus on innovation-driven product lines.
• Against this backdrop, we’ll explore how Ashland’s sharpened 2026 sales outlook shapes its investment narrative for long-term-oriented investors.

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What Is Ashland's Investment Narrative?

To be comfortable holding Ashland today, you need to believe in its shift toward higher-value specialty ingredients while accepting that profitability is still a work in progress. The latest quarter showed modestly lower sales but a much smaller loss, which, together with the reaffirmed dividend and completion of a US$480.07 million buyback, points to a management team signaling confidence in the business and its capital return priorities. The new EMEA food and beverage distribution deal with Univar fits neatly into Ashland’s message about “innovation-driven and globalized” product lines, but its financial impact is likely to be incremental near term rather than a major catalyst. The more immediate swing factors remain execution on the 2026 sales guidance, the path back to sustainable profits and whether margins can improve in a still-challenging demand backdrop.

However, one operational and earnings risk in particular deserves closer attention from investors. Ashland's shares have been on the rise but are still potentially undervalued by 48%. Find out what it's worth.

Exploring Other Perspectives

The single US$63.20 fair value from the Simply Wall St Community underscores how differently others might view Ashland’s outlook, especially given the company’s ongoing unprofitability and reliance on improving margins to support its 2026 sales ambitions.

Explore another fair value estimate on Ashland - why the stock might be worth just $63.20!

Build Your Own Ashland Narrative

Disagree with this assessment? Create your own narrative in under 3 minutes - extraordinary investment returns rarely come from following the herd.

• A great starting point for your Ashland research is our analysis highlighting 2 key rewards and 1 important warning sign that could impact your investment decision.
• Our free Ashland research report provides a comprehensive fundamental analysis summarized in a single visual - the Snowflake - making it easy to evaluate Ashland's overall financial health at a glance.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.